mEssAge to my deArest son...

Weather: Mostly Cloudy 6°C

Dearest Darius,

You are the best thing that could ever happen to mummy...Wat an amazing year we had together...I never knew a little being could achieve so much in jus 12 months...It is a real adventure to watch you grow and develop into your own little self. At the same time seeing a little reflection of myself in you...makes me strive to improve myself to guide you to be a better person than mummy...

Thank you for opening up a whole new world for daddy and I, for bringing so much joy and love to our lives. You made our family complete and we work hard to provide a loving environment for you to grow up in. You never fail to bring us laughter with your every cute little silly acts.

The next 12 months is going to be a greater adventure for you and for us, as you discover the world of independent mobility on foot and expand your vocal abilities. We look forward to sharing your little world of new discoveries.

We love you, boy boy.

Mummy and Daddy.

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Summary of milestones in the past year...

1st Month - Able to hold head up steadily

2nd Month -1st laughter and lotsa babbling, starting to pay attention to his crib mobile and toys

3rd Month - Discovered both hands and mouthing everything, able to sit supported, trys to bat at toys on the playgym

4th Month - Bottom 2 teeth erupts, likes tummy time, grabs at everything within his reach, loves bath time, enjoys playing infront of the mirror

5th Month - Pass toys from one hand to the other, drops toys and see ware they go, blows raspberry. enjoys bouncing on the jumperoo, will smile back when smiled at, sits unsupported

6th Month - Rolls from tummy to back and back to tummy, likes to shake his head vigoriously side to side, pick baby biscuits with fingers, stretch out arms when he wants to be carried, stranger anxiety

7th Month - Seperation anxiety, creeping in preparation to crawl, lurge forward using his bum while sitting, develops pincer grasp, banging toys to create sound, had 1st haircut since birth on Victoria Day

8th Month - Starts crawling and pull himself to stand, self feeds, starts using sippy cup, flip pages of baby board books, plays independently, responds to own name, enjoying splashing in the pool

9th Month - Walks with support and cruises around furniture, masters hw to sit down from standing position, his first word spoken porposefully: mama

10th Month - Learns to clap his hands, crawls up stairs, stand unsupported and walks by himself, opens and closes the door,

11th Month - Waves bye bye, dances to music and clap along, expresses himself better, so active he does not want to slow down for meals

12th Month - Flips pages of books and "read", attempts to climb up and down the couch/bed, shows temper when he does not get what he wants, getting more talkative, loves playing the chasing game, put things in and out of containers, likes carrying things around the house a.k.a make a mess

jOurnEy on dAriuS' Memory Lane...

It has been the shortest and fastest 1 year of my life...!

dAriUs is ONE..!

Weather: Snow Showers H:3° L:-1°


Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes to my beloved baby...but...y nobody pat me on the back and congratulate me for making thru the 1st year? needless to say...i know u can tell i did a good job...haha...(thickskin***...)

i expect i will have many many more good years ahead with Darius...thou it is a bittersweet transition now...from a dependent baby to an independent and demanding toddler...i am already looking forward to the challenges and the joy of watching all his 'firsts' (new milestones) in the 2nd year of life...i am also excited in the new variety of foods i can introduce to him and the fun stuffs we cld do together...

Darius is definitely starting to talk but mummy is still trying to figure out wat the sounds mean...he will point to things/people and give me a question mark face...i will label and name everything in his world and he seems to "repeat" after me...haha...so cute...!

Recently he is so into turning in circles and i cld get dizzy jus by watching...yet he cld walk off like ntg happen...dats the price of youth n health...haha...i'm sounding like an old woman...
I just started chasing my toddler down the hallway...at the store...seems like he already want to run away from me...haha...for mischief of coz...hehe...
All the funny expressions he makes with his face never fails to make me laugh...even after he throws all his cereal and apple pcs on the floor...
when he is busy playing...he never forgets to come to me for a hug n kiss...sometimes even bringing me his toy with the message : play with me...!

His favorite play thing now is carry boxes here and there...rummage the waste basket...pull the toilet paper..."sweep" the floor with my swiffer...push the roller chair...throw my clothes out of the drawer...

In the morning...the first thing he does when i get him out of bed...he will open the door and rush out to his little play land...with dat...i cld steal another 15 mins of sleep b4 he starts to bug me...hehe...well not bug me...but by dat time...i cld expect to see some "damage" already...so its better i get up and minimize it...

After the light snowfall last Wednesday...this morning we woke up to Winter Wonderland...there was about 1 inch of snow on the ground...its the 2nd snowfall this year and looks like icing on a cake...its a gift from GOD in celebration of Darius' 1st year ...jus like Darius is a gift from GOD to me...today i have so many thoughts going thru my mind...every details on 16th Nov 2007...all the challenges and sleepless nites and fear that i went thru up till todate...it is really amazing how much one can achieve in jus 365 days...

*cHange is cOnstAnt*

11 mth old gAlleRy...

bAby dAriuS is 11 mOnths...! wow!

There is still one more month into toddlerhood...my baby is already enjoying his independence around the house...and getting more mischevious....he STILL explores restricted places...he plays with the toilet paper by pulling the whole roll...he will give me a squirky smile and take off...i rem when my KuKu told me about Ben Ben playing with toilet paper i was laughing and saying - sooo cute...! but...when ur the one dealing with dat...yeah its cute but its annoying too...
i was so used to him being on his fours getting around...now that he is walking i realised the house is not "toddler-proof" yet...so there is lotsa work to do here...!

he can express himself better nw...he will bring me a snack he likes and say "mum" "mum"...i know he is not calling me but telling me he wants to "munch" "munch"....how cute...!
now that he is walking better and better...he just cant stay put...! he cant sit in his highchair for longer than 15 mins except in the morning when the tv is playing his favorite show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...he will clap and sway along to the music...

of coz diaper change is a always a struggle...mummy is running out of things to entertain him while changing...keys, camera, hp, diaper cream, wallet, lotion, box of smarties, coin pouch, spoon, wat ever i can grab...i even resorted to giving him his fav cookie jus to get him out of his dirty cruisers after all the above did not worked...

while we are out, darius now does not enjoy sitting in his stroller...he loves to walk in the crowd of giants...and he is like a VIP, everyone would "open path" for him and watch this little man wobble his way through...he gets ecstatic when he sees himself in the mirrors...and he could entertain himself long enough in the fitting room while mummy try on clothes...he has a mind of his own and wants to walk by himself...so daddy and mummy gets led around the mall by him...

the only problem now is figuring out how to wean him off...coz i tried every type of formula on the shelves and he dun seem to like any...i even added Nesquik to homo milk and he still hates it...well...i know it does not take overnight...so wish me luck...

He weighs 25 lbs 1 oz / 11.35 kgs and is 80 cm tall nw...not much growth from last month...probably due to higher activity level yet no increase in appetite...in fact...he seems less interested in food and seems so busy...he will imitate me cleaning the floor...and when he sees me keeping his toys in the box...he would get them out again and laughing happily...so young and making fun of mummy already...

the nExt dAy...

wat a pleasant surprise...dArius decided to take a few more steps by himself today...

see his cute little wobbily butt...

dAriuS' 1st sTeps @ 10 mths 3 weeks